The Path (Fire on the Mountain Series) (2 page)

I looked at the clothes and then back at him, but he was gone. I was sure he could not have moved fast enough to get beyond my vision that quickly, yet I could not see him. I thought he must have been an angel as I turned to look at the clothes.

The clothes were made out of a material so thin and light they did not seem to have any weight. I thought they would be too fragile to wear. I tried to make a small tear in the tunic to test it, but as hard as I tried I could not tear it. I then tried to poke a small hole in it with a sharp stick, but as hard as I tried I could not even make a mark on it.

I removed my torn rags, washed in the pool of water, and put on the new clothes. There were boots, a cape, and a hat, all made out of the same material, and they all fit perfectly. I then heard the voice of the man who had just been with me coming from the forest. I could not see anyone in the direction the voice seemed to be coming from.

“They are more than clothes. They are part of your armor. You will need it to get where you are going now.”

“Where am I going now?” I asked.

“You are going to your home.”

“Who are you?” I asked, still looking for the source of the voice. “Where is my home?”

“I am the Voice that cries in the wilderness,” he said as he stepped out of the forest so close that I could not believe I had not seen him. Then he continued as if he had heard my thoughts.

“You did not see me because I cannot be seen until I move. Are you prepared for this journey?” he asked, looking at me with great intensity.

“With this living water I feel ready for anything, but honestly the answer would have to be ‘no.’ I am not prepared. I know I’m going to the mountain, but I don’t know how to get there other than to follow this path. I have not been this way before,” I replied.

“I am not surprised. Those coming here now are like an army that does not even know how to hold their weapons, much less use them. Even those who have been leaders of thousands who show up here are weak, with minds that have not been renewed or transformed. They are worldly, foolish, and not prepared even for this journey, much less for what is coming upon the earth,” he lamented.

“I’m sorry. I’m as guilty as anyone, but what can we do about it?” I asked.

“We must do the best we can with what we’re given to work with, but we are getting very close to the last battle. It will be the climax of the ages, the ultimate battle between light and darkness. You are so far from being ready for it,” the Voice continued to lament.

“I’ve never known anything but battles my whole life. I’ve known the last battle is near, and I’ve been preaching and writing about it for years. But not many want to hear about it, and of those who will hear it, few will act on it. I don’t even think I have done much to act on it. Few have set their affections on things above and not the things that are on the earth.

“I’ve not been here before,” I continued, “but it does seem familiar. I do not know what you mean by ‘my home.’ I’ve had many homes. Am I going to one of them?”

“Do you remember what you were seeking when you began this journey?” he asked.

“I do,” I replied.

“You are seeking the city that God is building. You want to be a part of what He is doing, not just what men are doing. That is what everyone who comes here is seeking,” the Voice continued. “This seems familiar because you have been here before. You have passed this place a few times in the circles you have been going in. You will understand all of this in due time, but you are right to think that you are not ready for the journey. You are not ready.”

“What do I do to get ready?” I asked.

“You are already doing the main thing—walking this path. You admitted to not understanding even the basics about the living water. You do not feel ready. Maybe you are humble enough to learn what you need fast enough. It is those who think they are ready who are always the first to get lost here.”

“I really do not remember being at this pool before, but I do feel that everything is familiar,” I said. “You even seem familiar.”

“Everything here changes over time,” the Voice continued. “You have been here before, but it did not look like this. You must understand this for the journey. The familiar things you are looking for to give you bearings are not the same, and you are not the same. Therefore, your guidance must come from your heart, your spirit. You must see with the eyes of your heart more clearly than you see with these eyes, or you will not stay on the right path.”

“There is more than one path?” I asked.

“Yes, and all but one go to a place you do not want to go. There are delusions, deceptions, distractions, and traps all along the path. They are all there to divert you from your purpose. It will take more discernment, more wisdom, and more courage to stay on the right path than anyone has.”

“Then how can I make it?” I asked.

“You will need help. You will need the Helper. You will have to depend on Him and stay humble enough to keep depending on Him.

“You must also have the living water. You must never let it out of your sight again. You must drink from it as soon as you begin to thirst. Even drink when you are not thirsty when you can. It will keep you alive. Staying close to it will help keep you on the path.”

Everything he said seemed to go deep into my heart because my perception was so keen. I felt that I could recall everything perfectly anytime I needed to. I have been such a concept-oriented person that I struggle to remember details accurately and consider this one of my greatest weaknesses. I was elated that I could perceive and remember every detail with such clarity and depth now. I felt as if a whole new part of my mind had been opened.

The Voice drew his head back as if he was suddenly interested in something and said,

“You have understanding. The mental clarity you now have is because the Spirit quickens your mortal body. The Spirit will turn your weaknesses into strengths. If you will walk in the Spirit, you will always be strong in what you need. To make it to your destiny, you must abide in the Spirit. The waters you are drinking are Spirit and life. It was the Spirit that quickened Moses so that he did not grow weaker with age, but stronger, and his eyes never grew dim.”

“Do you mean I can feel like this from now on?” I asked.

“You can, and even more so. It is up to you. How well you learn this will determine how well you do on this journey and whether or not you complete it. To feel as you do now, to think as you can now, and to be able to see as you can now, is the natural state of the new creation you are.”

“I don’t think I have ever been as close to death as I was just a few minutes ago,” I said. “After drinking this water, I don’t think I have ever been this alive. I have a mental clarity I don’t remember ever having except when I was before the throne. Just a few minutes ago I could hardly think at all. Now you say I can be this way all of the time?”

The Voice moved to stand right in front of me and looked intently into my eyes, and said, “You not only can, you must remain as you are now. When you are in the Spirit, you are before the throne. His kingdom is within. The King is in you. You are His temple. To walk in truth is to know this and to live in His presence.

“Until one is born again they cannot see the kingdom. But just because they are born again does not mean that they see it,” he continued. “Few of those who are born again in these times are opening their new eyes, their spiritual eyes. Few who are coming here now have seen the kingdom. It is a marvel that any get this far with so little vision. This is why so few are making it through even part of the wilderness.

“The Lord gave the warning, ‘
Woe to those who nurse babes in these times
’, or ‘Woe to those who keep their people in immaturity’. His warning was true—this is the great tragedy of your time.”

“I know this is true. I have been preaching it for years,” I agreed.

“Yes. You have, but what have you done about it?” he asked.

“I guess not much. Not as much as I should have,” I confessed.

“It is the tragedy of your generation to have brought in the greatest harvest of the age, but then lost most of it. There is an even greater ingathering coming, and this must not happen again.

“There is great rejoicing at a single sinner that repents, and there is great lamentation when a single one falls away. There are not many true disciples because there are not many true shepherds. You have excelled at making converts, but you are not making them into His disciples. The Great Commission is to make disciples. The Lord gave a definition of what a disciple is, and we have few who make it even this far because you are not making disciples. This is the bane of your age.”

“I am guilty,” I confessed. “I knew better, and even grieved over this, but did not do much about it.”

“This is why the judgment of teachers is even more severe,” said the Voice. “Your shepherds have been feeding themselves and have not taken care of the people. Now the final battle is near. We have an army where even its leaders do not know how to fight. Right now few could even survive the first attack. There are already many needless casualties because of this.”

“How will we win?” I asked. “We do win. It is written.”

“We will win because of our Captain, but this battle is for His people. He has already won. Now you must win. I came at the beginning of the age to help prepare the way for Him then, and I have come again at the end of the age to prepare the way for Him again. I do this by helping to prepare His people. Now the first thing that must be done to prepare for Him and the times is to make the leaders into disciples. They will not know how to make disciples if they have not been disciples.

“No one can make it on this path who is not a disciple, and they certainly won’t last long in the battle without being one. There should be multitudes that are on this path now, but there are few.

“You are the generation that was given the greatest resources, the most knowledge, the most freedom, but so few have come to the knowledge of the truth. Where are the shepherds?” the Voice lamented.

“I am guilty of everything you’re saying,” I confessed. “I have been a poor teacher, and an even worse shepherd.”

“You have judged yourself rightly. Because you have judged yourself, you will not have to be judged, but you must repent. True repentance brings change.

“‘
The last shall be first
,’ the Voice continued. “The generation emerging is called to be the greatest of all. Right now, it is in the worst shape of all. This happened on your watch. Even so, ‘
where sin abounds grace does that much more abound.
’ There is still grace available to change this if you repent.”

“You are the one who prepares the way for the Lord. You are here to prepare us for Him. How can we make this great change? The fabric of Christianity in our time is very thin. We are as weak and unprepared as you say. What do we need to do?” I begged.

“As I said, the next step is the next step on this path. This path will prepare you, and I will help you. I was with John the Baptist to do this in his time. It begins with repentance. You cannot stay long on this path without a strong foundation of repentance. You must be quick to see your sin—quick to see your mistakes and to correct them. You are quick to see your sin and mistakes. This is helpful, but you have not been quick to correct them, and that can be your doom. Repentance is more than feeling sorry for your sin, it is turning from the sin.

“Only a foundation of repentance will keep you humble enough to walk in the grace of God. Humility is to be teachable and dependent on the Holy Spirit. This has not been a foundation that many have built upon in your time. You must start with preaching and teaching repentance. You must start praying for the Spirit to come to convict of sin. Your generation hardly even knows what sin is.

“I prayed for the judgment of God to come upon my own nation. Then I had to challenge the false teachers and prophets of my time. This is a basic duty of the prophets. Where are your prophets? Where are your apostles? Where are the shepherds who will protect God’s people from the great deception of your time? Why are the wolves allowed to devour God’s people right in front of them and they do nothing?